Bel and the Dragon: Bible Study by Atheists

[00:00:00] Welcome to Sacrilegious Discourse.

[00:00:01] For this is what the Sovereign Lord says!

[00:00:03] Why do you need prophets to tell people who you are and what you want?

[00:00:07] If you can justify everything that the God of the Bible has done, then you can justify any of your behavior.

[00:00:14] A lot of this mentality is trickling into what is now mainstream right-wing Christianity.

[00:00:20] I am capable of empathy greater than this God of the Bible.

[00:00:26] This is a Bible that they tell kids.

[00:00:29] This is the good Lord. This is the good book.

[00:00:32] He is fantasizing about murder, mass murder.

[00:00:37] Head over to SacrilegiousDiscourse.com right now to find out how to leave us a review or support us on Patreon.

[00:00:48] Ben! Wife!

[00:00:49] Do you know what we're doing today?

[00:00:51] Well, yesterday we read The Prayer of Azariah, which was one of the apocryphal books of Daniel for some Bibles.

[00:01:00] For some readings.

[00:01:02] Yes.

[00:01:02] And that being that it's not in all Bibles.

[00:01:05] So we didn't necessarily need to read this as part of our Bible, but we figured since it is in some, we wanted to go ahead and do that.

[00:01:11] And in that book, or that chapter, it went on forever.

[00:01:18] Yeah.

[00:01:18] And they praised God a lot.

[00:01:20] Mm-hmm.

[00:01:21] And all the things, the earth, the dew, the snow, the grass.

[00:01:25] There was a place in chapter three when dudes, homeboys were tossed into the furnace.

[00:01:32] Yeah.

[00:01:32] Yeah.

[00:01:32] They were in the fire.

[00:01:33] So yeah, they, they were dancing around and then they were like, Hey, we suck.

[00:01:37] God, forgive us for sucking.

[00:01:39] And then, then they, they went on to extol all the things and all the things that, that like the grass even praised God.

[00:01:46] Yeah.

[00:01:46] So I mean.

[00:01:47] And the sun and the moon and the spring.

[00:01:50] Yeah.

[00:01:50] Yeah.

[00:01:50] It was a lot of, it was, it was very repetitive and very, ugh.

[00:01:54] Yeah.

[00:01:55] So that was the prayer of Azariah.

[00:01:57] Yes.

[00:01:58] Which means that today we're going to be finishing up our book of Daniel.

[00:02:02] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:03] Um, and then moving into our regular scheduled, uh, you know, end of book of Daniel stuff.

[00:02:08] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:08] With.

[00:02:09] Bell and the dragon.

[00:02:11] All right.

[00:02:12] Let's do this.

[00:02:13] Okie dokie.

[00:02:19] All right.

[00:02:20] As you stated in the intro.

[00:02:22] Yeah.

[00:02:23] We are reading three apocryphal chapters of Daniel.

[00:02:27] We are.

[00:02:28] Which, um, apocryphal means that they are not included.

[00:02:33] Sometimes.

[00:02:33] Sometimes.

[00:02:34] Depending on which Bible we're talking about.

[00:02:35] Right.

[00:02:35] They are not included in, uh, Jewish or, uh, Protestant Bibles, but they are accepted as

[00:02:43] canon by some Catholic Bibles.

[00:02:46] Right.

[00:02:46] And even when they're not accepted as canon, sometimes the stories do still appear in an

[00:02:54] appendix.

[00:02:55] Right.

[00:02:56] Some Protestant Bibles have an apocryphal appendix.

[00:03:00] I see.

[00:03:00] I see.

[00:03:01] That these stories appear in.

[00:03:03] Yeah.

[00:03:03] Because they aren't exactly heretical.

[00:03:05] Right.

[00:03:06] They're just not accepted as the, you know, the story that they want to tell in the Bible.

[00:03:10] Right.

[00:03:11] So, which is weird considering the things that they did decide get to stick around.

[00:03:16] Right.

[00:03:16] Right.

[00:03:16] Right.

[00:03:16] Right.

[00:03:17] So, they're just later additions to Daniel.

[00:03:19] And they weren't exactly, they didn't fit the mold for what these certain groups wanted

[00:03:24] to put.

[00:03:24] Right.

[00:03:24] Like they, they had to have certain criteria that fit the stuff that went into their Bible.

[00:03:29] So.

[00:03:29] Yes, they did.

[00:03:30] Which, whatever.

[00:03:30] That's, that's.

[00:03:31] I don't care.

[00:03:32] Yeah.

[00:03:34] Yeah.

[00:03:34] So, these three chapters are not found in the Hebrew or Aramaic texts of Daniel.

[00:03:39] And the text of these chapters is found in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation.

[00:03:45] Got it.

[00:03:45] Okay.

[00:03:46] Yeah.

[00:03:46] The first one we read was Susanna and the elders.

[00:03:49] And then the one that we read yesterday was the prayer of Azariah and song of the three

[00:03:53] holy children.

[00:03:54] And the one we're reading today is bell and the dragon.

[00:03:58] Okay.

[00:03:58] And bell, it's funny, you were asking me how to spell it and you thought it was like a

[00:04:02] girl's name, like B-E-L-L-E.

[00:04:04] Right.

[00:04:05] Or something like that.

[00:04:06] Yeah.

[00:04:06] But it's more like the God bell.

[00:04:09] So, think L-B-E-L.

[00:04:11] Right.

[00:04:12] Right.

[00:04:12] So, it's not like a girl and a dragon, which is like the picture that I had in my mind when

[00:04:18] I was thinking of bell and the dragon.

[00:04:20] Right.

[00:04:20] You know, like a, a maiden in distress.

[00:04:23] Right?

[00:04:23] Yeah.

[00:04:23] A damsel.

[00:04:24] But no, it's not.

[00:04:25] Okay.

[00:04:26] Um, so this one falls after Daniel chapter 12 verse 13 in the Septuagint.

[00:04:33] Oh.

[00:04:34] And is an epilogue.

[00:04:35] Okay.

[00:04:36] All right.

[00:04:36] So, bell and the dragon is believed to have been written between the third and first centuries

[00:04:41] BCE, likely around the time that Daniel was being translated from Hebrew to Greek.

[00:04:48] Got it.

[00:04:48] The Greek version dates back to 100 BCE, but the Hebrew version may be even older than

[00:04:54] that.

[00:04:55] Okay.

[00:04:56] Okay.

[00:04:56] However, this chapter was unknown to early rabbinic Judaism.

[00:05:01] Got it.

[00:05:01] Right.

[00:05:01] So, we're, as usual, not quite sure what came from where.

[00:05:06] Okay.

[00:05:06] All right.

[00:05:07] Okay.

[00:05:07] Okay.

[00:05:07] Okay.

[00:05:07] So, what is considered non-canonical by most Protestants, it is canonical to Catholic

[00:05:12] and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

[00:05:15] Sure.

[00:05:15] This is a Greek apocryphal story that parodies Babylonian gods and aims to discredit them.

[00:05:23] Interesting.

[00:05:24] Right?

[00:05:24] Yeah.

[00:05:24] I thought that was interesting.

[00:05:26] Yeah.

[00:05:26] This version of the story that we're about to read has been cited as an ancestor of the

[00:05:33] locked room mystery.

[00:05:34] Remember, I told you that this one and the first one that we read, Susanna, were considered

[00:05:41] two of the earliest mysteries.

[00:05:44] Yeah, yeah.

[00:05:44] This is the other one.

[00:05:45] Okay.

[00:05:45] And are you familiar with a locked room mystery?

[00:05:48] Not specifically.

[00:05:49] It's, you're in a room, you're murdered, but the room is locked.

[00:05:54] How did it happen?

[00:05:55] Oh, okay.

[00:05:56] Okay.

[00:05:56] If, you know, the doors were not jimmied and the windows aren't broken.

[00:06:00] Got it.

[00:06:01] How did the murder occur?

[00:06:03] Okay.

[00:06:03] All right.

[00:06:03] Yeah.

[00:06:04] So, we are going to go read this now and then I'll have some more notes after.

[00:06:10] Okay.

[00:06:10] Yeah.

[00:06:11] So, Belle and the dragon.

[00:06:13] Got it.

[00:06:14] When King Astaages.

[00:06:16] Sure, that guy.

[00:06:17] Right.

[00:06:18] Was laid to rest with his ancestors, Cyrus the Persian succeeded to this kingdom.

[00:06:25] Okay.

[00:06:25] Daniel was a companion of the king and was the most honored of all his friends.

[00:06:30] Now, the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, B-E-L.

[00:06:35] Right.

[00:06:35] Yeah.

[00:06:35] And every day they provided for it 12 bushels of choice flour and 40 sheep and six measures

[00:06:42] of wine.

[00:06:43] The king revered it and went every day to worship it.

[00:06:46] But Daniel worshiped his own God.

[00:06:48] Mm-hmm.

[00:06:49] So, the king said to him, why do you not worship Belle?

[00:06:52] He answered, uh, because I do not revere idols made with hands, but the living God who

[00:06:59] created heaven and earth and has dominion over all living creatures.

[00:07:02] Like, duh.

[00:07:04] Okay.

[00:07:04] All right.

[00:07:04] Your dude is a statue.

[00:07:06] Stupid.

[00:07:07] I mean, they did put a lot of emphasis on the, uh, the Ark of the Covenant.

[00:07:11] Yeah.

[00:07:12] And...

[00:07:12] So, I don't want to hear your shit, Daniel.

[00:07:13] You know, I'm just saying there has been some things that were built in their gods,

[00:07:19] you know...

[00:07:19] Y'all did some...

[00:07:20] Y'all did some idol in too, Daniel.

[00:07:21] Somewhat.

[00:07:21] So, don't be so uppity.

[00:07:23] Yeah.

[00:07:23] Okay.

[00:07:23] The king said to him, uh, do you not think that Belle is a living God?

[00:07:27] Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?

[00:07:30] Hello?

[00:07:32] And Daniel laughed and said, do not be deceived, O king, for this thing is only clay inside

[00:07:37] and bronze outside, and it never ate or drank anything.

[00:07:41] Much like the sacrifices you give to your living God?

[00:07:44] Right.

[00:07:45] Daniel?

[00:07:46] It's so funny, isn't it?

[00:07:47] Yeah.

[00:07:48] Because I'm like, yes, I agree with you.

[00:07:50] It is just a statue.

[00:07:51] Right.

[00:07:51] Right.

[00:07:51] So, what do y'all do with your shit?

[00:07:54] Right, what the fuck is your sacrifices?

[00:07:56] No one's eating that shit either other than the fucking priests.

[00:07:59] Exactly.

[00:07:59] Exactly.

[00:08:00] Then the king was angry and called the priests of Belle and said to them, if you do not tell

[00:08:05] me who is eating these provisions, you shall die.

[00:08:09] But if you prove that Belle is eating them, Daniel shall die because he has spoken blasphemy

[00:08:15] against Belle.

[00:08:17] Oh, okay.

[00:08:17] Daniel said to the king, let it be done as you've said.

[00:08:20] Whatevs, yo.

[00:08:21] Okay.

[00:08:22] He's like, do what you gotta do, what?

[00:08:24] Sure.

[00:08:24] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:25] Now, there were 70 priests of Belle besides their wives and children.

[00:08:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:30] So, the king went with Daniel into the temple of Belle.

[00:08:33] The priests of Belle said, see, we are now going outside.

[00:08:37] You yourself, O king, set out the food and prepare the wine and shut the door and seal

[00:08:42] it with your signet.

[00:08:43] When you return in the morning, if you do not find that Belle has eaten it all, we will

[00:08:48] die.

[00:08:49] Otherwise, Daniel, who is telling lies about us.

[00:08:52] Mm.

[00:08:53] They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance.

[00:08:57] Of course they did.

[00:08:58] Right.

[00:08:59] Through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions.

[00:09:02] Sure.

[00:09:03] Not just them, but their whole family.

[00:09:05] Right.

[00:09:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:09:06] After they had gone out, the king set out the food for Belle.

[00:09:09] Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes, and they scattered them through the whole

[00:09:15] temple in the presence of the king alone.

[00:09:18] Okay.

[00:09:18] Only the king knew about the ashes.

[00:09:20] Right, right, yeah.

[00:09:21] Then they went out, shut the door, and sealed it with the king's signet, and departed.

[00:09:26] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:27] During the night, the priests came as usual with their wives and children, and they ate

[00:09:31] and drank everything.

[00:09:32] Yeah.

[00:09:32] Early in the morning, the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.

[00:09:36] The king said, are the seals unbroken, Daniel?

[00:09:39] He answered, they are unbroken, O king.

[00:09:42] As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table and shouted in a loud voice,

[00:09:46] Ah, you are great, O Belle, and in you there is no deceit at all.

[00:09:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:52] Oh!

[00:09:53] Ah!

[00:09:54] I love God.

[00:09:56] But Daniel laughed and restrained the king from going in.

[00:09:59] Look at the floor, stupid, he said.

[00:10:01] He didn't call him stupid.

[00:10:02] I called him stupid.

[00:10:04] Sure, sure.

[00:10:05] And notice whose footprints these are, the king said.

[00:10:08] I see the footprints of men and women and children.

[00:10:12] Okay, yeah.

[00:10:13] You didn't look and see the fucking ashes on the floor until I told you to though, huh?

[00:10:18] Right, right.

[00:10:19] You're so smart.

[00:10:20] Even though we did this for a reason.

[00:10:22] Yeah.

[00:10:23] In your presence.

[00:10:24] Yes.

[00:10:25] So.

[00:10:26] Boy, you king, nothing, no flies on you, huh?

[00:10:29] Right, yeah.

[00:10:34] They showed him the secret doors through which they used to enter to consume what was on

[00:10:39] the table.

[00:10:40] Mm-hmm.

[00:10:41] Therefore, the king put them to death and gave Belle over to Daniel who destroyed it and

[00:10:45] the temple.

[00:10:46] Mm-hmm.

[00:10:47] Now, in that place there was a great dragon which the Babylonians revered.

[00:10:51] I know, right?

[00:10:52] What?

[00:10:52] Sure there was.

[00:10:53] Just there in the temple.

[00:10:55] Hey, oh, by the way, we had this statue.

[00:10:59] We thought it was a god.

[00:11:01] Just kidding, it's not.

[00:11:02] Oh, and by the way, there's a dragon.

[00:11:04] Yeah.

[00:11:05] Okay.

[00:11:06] The king said to Daniel, you cannot deny that this is a living god, so worship him.

[00:11:12] Okay.

[00:11:13] So, first he showed him a statue and Daniel was like, no, I have a living god.

[00:11:19] Right.

[00:11:19] So then the king is like, well, wait, this is a-

[00:11:22] But we have an actual dragon.

[00:11:23] This is a living god.

[00:11:24] Right.

[00:11:25] So, he's living.

[00:11:26] It's a fucking dragon.

[00:11:27] Yeah.

[00:11:28] Daniel said, hmm, I worship the lord my god for he is the living god, but give me permission,

[00:11:34] O king, and I will kill the dragon without sword or club.

[00:11:38] Okay.

[00:11:39] The king said, pfft, I'll give you permission.

[00:11:42] Oh, okay.

[00:11:42] Like, yeah, kill the dragon, whatever.

[00:11:45] Right.

[00:11:45] Okay.

[00:11:46] Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, which he

[00:11:52] fed to the dragon.

[00:11:53] Okay.

[00:11:54] The dragon ate them and burst open.

[00:11:56] Then Daniel said, see what you have been worshiping?

[00:12:00] When the Babylonians heard of-

[00:12:02] He-

[00:12:03] So, he fed the thing something it couldn't eat and it blew up like a bird would.

[00:12:08] Yeah.

[00:12:09] But it died.

[00:12:10] Okay.

[00:12:10] So, it's not a god.

[00:12:11] It's just an animal.

[00:12:12] Right.

[00:12:12] It's an animal.

[00:12:12] You killed a fucking-

[00:12:14] Creature.

[00:12:15] Well, what we would consider mythical.

[00:12:17] Right.

[00:12:17] Creature.

[00:12:19] So, yay, I guess.

[00:12:20] Right.

[00:12:21] Well, I'm gonna guess it was probably like a crocogator.

[00:12:24] You know?

[00:12:25] I'm gonna guess it didn't exist at all.

[00:12:27] Yeah.

[00:12:27] Okay.

[00:12:28] Fair.

[00:12:28] Daniel is fucking mythical himself.

[00:12:30] Fair.

[00:12:31] But, be that as it may, they have discussed like, quote unquote, sea creatures-

[00:12:35] Sure.

[00:12:35] And monsters and stuff.

[00:12:37] Yeah.

[00:12:37] That turned out to be fucking alligators and crocodiles.

[00:12:40] Right.

[00:12:40] Right.

[00:12:41] So, that's what I'm going with.

[00:12:42] If anything similar to this story ever happened, that's what it was.

[00:12:46] Sure.

[00:12:47] When the Babylonians heard about it, they were very indignant and conspired against the king

[00:12:52] saying, the king has become a Jew.

[00:12:55] He has destroyed Bel and killed the dragon and slaughtered the priests.

[00:13:00] Going to the king, they said, hand Daniel over to us or else we will kill you and your household.

[00:13:06] Hmm.

[00:13:07] That's pretty bold.

[00:13:08] I'd be like, I'm sorry, douchebag said what?

[00:13:11] Because I'm looking around and I'm the king.

[00:13:14] Right.

[00:13:14] So, eat my whole entire ass, yo.

[00:13:17] Right.

[00:13:18] The king saw that they were pressing him hard and under compulsion, he handed Daniel over

[00:13:22] to them because that's very kingly.

[00:13:25] Right?

[00:13:26] Yeah, right.

[00:13:27] That's not how that would go.

[00:13:29] That's not how a king does.

[00:13:30] Right.

[00:13:31] He would be like, hmm, I did put the priest to death, but I seem to still have my guards.

[00:13:37] Yeah.

[00:13:37] Fuck these dudes right here.

[00:13:38] Right.

[00:13:39] Yeah.

[00:13:40] They threw Daniel into the lion's den.

[00:13:43] Again?

[00:13:43] Yeah.

[00:13:44] And he was there for six days this time.

[00:13:46] Six days.

[00:13:47] Got it.

[00:13:48] Well, he knew the good hiding spot already.

[00:13:49] Yeah, exactly.

[00:13:50] Yeah.

[00:13:51] There were seven lions in the den and every day they had been given two human bodies and

[00:13:56] two sheep.

[00:13:57] But now they were given nothing so that they would devour Daniel.

[00:14:01] Sure.

[00:14:01] Yeah.

[00:14:02] Now, the prophet Habakkuk, which that's a name that is a book of the Bible that we will

[00:14:10] be reading at some point.

[00:14:11] Oh, okay.

[00:14:11] Yeah.

[00:14:12] All right.

[00:14:12] So this Habakkuk guy.

[00:14:13] He's an actual like prophet of the Lord type person.

[00:14:16] Yeah.

[00:14:17] Okay.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:17] I can't remember if he's one of the minor prophets that we're about to be reading or if he's

[00:14:22] one of the apocryphal guys that we will be reading after.

[00:14:26] But he's in there somewhere.

[00:14:27] He's in there somewhere.

[00:14:28] Got it.

[00:14:28] He is a guy.

[00:14:29] Okay.

[00:14:29] All right.

[00:14:30] So anyway, and he's a prophet.

[00:14:31] Yeah.

[00:14:31] He was in Judea.

[00:14:33] He had made a stew and had broken bread into a bowl and was going into the field to take

[00:14:39] it to the reapers.

[00:14:40] But the angel of the Lord, you know, the angel, he just be walking around when he's

[00:14:46] not being held up by fucking demons or whatever.

[00:14:49] Right.

[00:14:50] Yeah.

[00:14:51] He said to Habakkuk, take the food that you have to Babylon, to Daniel in the lion's den.

[00:14:58] Habakkuk said, sir, I have never seen Babylon and I know nothing about the den.

[00:15:04] Right.

[00:15:04] The fuck?

[00:15:05] Yeah.

[00:15:05] Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, which he fucking pulled

[00:15:11] his hair and was like, come here, stupid.

[00:15:14] Right.

[00:15:16] And carried him by his hair with the speed of the wind and set him down in Babylon right

[00:15:23] over the den.

[00:15:24] Here.

[00:15:24] Now do you see it?

[00:15:25] That's a very uncomfortable way to travel.

[00:15:27] Like, could you not?

[00:15:29] Yeah.

[00:15:29] Like, I wasn't trying to be rude.

[00:15:31] I just, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

[00:15:34] Sorry, GPS didn't be invented yet.

[00:15:36] Did you have to carry my fucking hair?

[00:15:38] Right.

[00:15:39] Like, here's my hand.

[00:15:41] Right.

[00:15:42] Or magic me.

[00:15:43] I don't know.

[00:15:44] Yeah.

[00:15:44] Like, horcrux much?

[00:15:46] Then Habakkuk shouted, Daniel, Daniel, take the food that God has sent you.

[00:15:52] No.

[00:15:52] Wait, how does he even know Daniel's there?

[00:15:54] I guess God told him.

[00:15:55] Yeah.

[00:15:56] Yeah.

[00:15:57] The angel of the Lord or whatever told him.

[00:15:58] Yeah.

[00:15:59] He said, take the food that you have to Babylon to Daniel, to the lion's den.

[00:16:03] All right.

[00:16:03] And Habakkuk's like, sir, what the fuck are you talking about?

[00:16:06] Right.

[00:16:06] What's a Daniel?

[00:16:07] What's a lion's den?

[00:16:08] Yeah.

[00:16:08] What's a Babylon?

[00:16:09] Right.

[00:16:09] Right.

[00:16:09] Yeah.

[00:16:10] So the angel picked him up by his hair and carried him over there and was like, here,

[00:16:14] stupid.

[00:16:14] Okay.

[00:16:15] And so then he's like, what, Daniel?

[00:16:17] Here's some shit.

[00:16:18] Yeah.

[00:16:19] And then Daniel said, you have remembered me, O God, and have not forsaken those who love

[00:16:24] you.

[00:16:24] Whee!

[00:16:25] So Daniel got up and ate.

[00:16:27] And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.

[00:16:31] I wonder if he pulled him by his hair again.

[00:16:34] Yeah.

[00:16:34] On the seventh day, the king came to mourn for Daniel.

[00:16:37] When he came to the den, he looked in and there's sad Daniel.

[00:16:41] What up?

[00:16:41] Okay.

[00:16:42] Okay.

[00:16:42] The king shouted with a loud voice, you are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there

[00:16:47] is no other beside you.

[00:16:48] Huh?

[00:16:49] As he said, well, no, wait, no, that was Nebuchadnezzar.

[00:16:51] Yeah.

[00:16:51] This is Cyrus.

[00:16:53] Okay.

[00:16:53] Yeah.

[00:16:53] Yeah.

[00:16:54] Then he pulled Daniel out and threw into the den those who had attempted his destruction.

[00:16:59] Why didn't he just do that in the first place?

[00:17:00] He was already like impressed with Daniel's God.

[00:17:03] Why?

[00:17:04] Instead of like bowing to what they wanted, why didn't he just do that if he had the power

[00:17:08] to do that?

[00:17:08] Yeah.

[00:17:09] And he's clearly a weak piece of shit.

[00:17:11] Anyway, he threw into the den those who had attempted his destruction and they were

[00:17:17] instantly eaten before his eyes.

[00:17:19] The end.

[00:17:20] Okay.

[00:17:21] Okay.

[00:17:21] Yeah.

[00:17:21] So, this version has been cited as an ancestor of the locked room mystery, which I said.

[00:17:27] Yeah.

[00:17:28] Sometime after the temple's condemnation, the Babylonians worshiped the dragon.

[00:17:34] Okay.

[00:17:34] Okay.

[00:17:35] The king says that unlike Belle, the dragon is a clear example of a live animal.

[00:17:39] Daniel promises to slay the dragon without the aid of a sword and does so by baking pitch,

[00:17:44] fat, and hair to make cakes that cause the dragon to burst open upon consumption.

[00:17:48] Okay.

[00:17:48] The reason I'm repeating that is because in other variants, other ingredients serve this

[00:17:55] purpose.

[00:17:55] So, there's more than one formula to this story.

[00:17:59] There's different recipes.

[00:17:59] All right.

[00:18:00] In a form known to the Midrash, straw was fed in which nails were hidden.

[00:18:06] Oh.

[00:18:07] Or skins of camel were filled with hot coals.

[00:18:11] I see.

[00:18:12] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:12] Okay.

[00:18:13] And a similar story occurs in Persian poetry, where Alexander the Great, or Iskander, as

[00:18:21] he's known, kills a dragon by feeding it cow's hide stuffed with poison and tar.

[00:18:28] I see.

[00:18:28] Yeah.

[00:18:29] Interesting, yeah?

[00:18:30] Yeah.

[00:18:31] So, the end.

[00:18:32] Got it.

[00:18:33] Yeah.

[00:18:34] I'm not really sure what to say about that.

[00:18:37] It's like, why do we have two lion den stories about Daniel?

[00:18:41] I hate.

[00:18:42] That's really overkill.

[00:18:44] They clearly picked one and were like, no, this is overkill.

[00:18:47] You get one lion's den story.

[00:18:49] Right.

[00:18:49] Yeah.

[00:18:49] No, I mean, yeah.

[00:18:50] There's definitely too many lion's dens.

[00:18:52] Yeah.

[00:18:53] And...

[00:18:53] There's two too many, but we'll allow one.

[00:18:56] Right.

[00:18:57] But again, I mean, this story, much like the other stories in Daniel, is again, trying

[00:19:02] to get these leaders that had conquered them, to admit the wonderfulness and viability of

[00:19:12] their God, right?

[00:19:12] Yeah.

[00:19:13] Like, they're trying...

[00:19:13] Not just is our God great, but yours is fake and dumb.

[00:19:16] Right.

[00:19:16] It's two separate things they're trying for here.

[00:19:19] Yeah.

[00:19:19] And we talked about this all the way through Daniel, about how they try too hard to do

[00:19:24] this.

[00:19:25] Yeah.

[00:19:25] Like, they are just not...

[00:19:27] It's not a realistic take on how this would go.

[00:19:31] No, because they're like, look at how we convinced the people who kidnapped us how awesome our

[00:19:37] God is.

[00:19:38] They totally fell in love with our God.

[00:19:40] Right.

[00:19:40] After they kidnapped us.

[00:19:41] Yeah.

[00:19:42] Yeah.

[00:19:42] That totally happened.

[00:19:43] Right.

[00:19:44] Like, no, dudes, it didn't.

[00:19:45] Well, and the fact that these are written hundreds of years after these events supposedly

[00:19:49] took place doesn't lend to the credibility.

[00:19:52] No.

[00:19:53] Not at all.

[00:19:54] It lends to the...

[00:19:57] Stupidity?

[00:19:57] Well, yeah, the propaganda aspect of it.

[00:20:00] Yeah.

[00:20:00] Yeah.

[00:20:00] So, I don't know.

[00:20:01] It is what it is, but...

[00:20:03] It ain't great is what it is.

[00:20:05] That's true.

[00:20:06] For sure.

[00:20:06] Yeah.

[00:20:07] All right.

[00:20:08] Well, that was Belle and the Dragon.

[00:20:10] It sure as fuck was.

[00:20:12] Which brings us to the end of Daniel.

[00:20:14] And all its apocryphal nonsense.

[00:20:17] Yeah.

[00:20:17] So, after today, we're going to be getting into our...

[00:20:23] Daniel wrap up.

[00:20:24] Daniel wrap up.

[00:20:25] And then we'll have...

[00:20:27] You're always wrong.

[00:20:29] Right.

[00:20:29] Yes.

[00:20:30] Or the contradictions episode.

[00:20:32] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:33] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:33] And then that will finish us up with Daniel.

[00:20:36] Yeah.

[00:20:36] And we'll be done.

[00:20:37] And that will be another book in the bank.

[00:20:40] That's right.

[00:20:41] And we'll be on to the next one.

[00:20:42] Do you know what the next book is?

[00:20:44] Oh, you know...

[00:20:44] Off the top of your head?

[00:20:45] I want to say Maccabees, but I could be wrong.

[00:20:47] Wait, Maccabees isn't even in the regular Bible.

[00:20:49] Oh, it's not?

[00:20:49] Are we doing another apocryphal thing, or what are we doing?

[00:20:51] Oh, you know what?

[00:20:52] I honestly...

[00:20:53] I did not even have that pulled up, so...

[00:20:55] Well, we're doing another book after this, regardless, which will be the 28th book that

[00:20:58] we do.

[00:20:59] So...

[00:20:59] Oh, look at you knowing how many books we did.

[00:21:01] Yeah.

[00:21:01] Well, I have to write it every day when we publish our podcast.

[00:21:04] Oh, that is true.

[00:21:04] That is true.

[00:21:05] Yeah.

[00:21:05] You do that.

[00:21:06] So I know.

[00:21:06] That is true.

[00:21:07] But regardless, we will be doing a new book of the Bible in...

[00:21:12] Hosea.

[00:21:13] Hosea.

[00:21:14] Hosea.

[00:21:15] Hosea.

[00:21:16] Hosea.

[00:21:17] Hosea.

[00:21:18] Hooray.

[00:21:19] Hooray.

[00:21:20] I was thinking Moana.

[00:21:21] Got it.

[00:21:24] I don't know.

[00:21:25] We'll probably start the new book on Monday.

[00:21:26] Yeah.

[00:21:27] So whatever timeframe...

[00:21:28] We're kind of recording some of this stuff a little bit earlier than normal.

[00:21:30] Yeah.

[00:21:30] Whatever timeframe we have left, we may be doing like a Patreon or book club or maybe

[00:21:34] both.

[00:21:35] I'm not really sure at this point.

[00:21:36] That's weekend and that is so far away from today.

[00:21:39] It is so far away from today right now.

[00:21:42] Yeah.

[00:21:42] But we will do something probably.

[00:21:45] Oh yeah.

[00:21:45] We'll do something definitely.

[00:21:47] We just don't know what that is.

[00:21:48] Right.

[00:21:48] And then we'll be back on Monday with the beginning of Hosea.

[00:21:51] Yeah.

[00:21:51] Not Maccabees.

[00:21:53] Not Maccabees.

[00:21:54] No.

[00:21:54] So we will see you guys then.

[00:21:56] Bye.

[00:21:57] Bye.

[00:21:57] Bye.

[00:21:57] Bye.